I was driving down Coral Way (SW 23 St) in Miami, and it was a hot humid summer day. There was a guy in an old ratty pick-up filled with junk, on the side of the road, with his hood up. I wasn't particularly busy, I went to a convenience store and bought some bottled water, and drove back to see what he needed, maybe a jump-start or something.
As I had passed him, I saw an old red steel cabinet in the pick-up bed. I was hoping he might want to sell it. I stopped, and gave him the water, and asked about the red cabinet. He was Spanish-speaking, mine is very rudimentary. Turns out he was in-front of a commercial building where he had a contract to mow the property and maintain the landscaping. He was glad to get a cold bottle of water, and I was able to relay my interest in the red cabinet. He said I could have it for free, and there was a small metal chest of drawers, about 1' x 1' x 2' which would be good for small parts. I got them both.
At home, it checked out my no-cost finds. The red cabinet got a plywood back and base (I salvaged the thick metal back for future use), a new wood top with a sacrificial masonite piece, a HFT magnetic strip on the raised rear backsplash, and a plywood shelf inside. The front door was heavy-gauge curved metal, the backside looked like it was designed to hold a slim three ring binder or literature. Anyway, with the gunk dug out of the roller wheels, which I removed and saved (they were large, heavy-duty industrial wheels) and threw on some swivel HFT wheels, it made a nice portable cart. The original paint was nice-enough that a good cleaning sufficed.
The metal chest of drawers got a bit of tweaking to re-align things. It got a coat of Rustoleum grey paint.
After having them for a bit, I realized I didn't need either of them as part of my limited space in my 2 car garage, both quickly sold on CL for > I had in them.
